


Gambling with the Lady of the Underground

by Iselmyr



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: F/M, Filk, Lyric-form
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 21:42:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8913829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iselmyr/pseuds/Iselmyr
Summary: The story of Minthe, in the style of Hadestown.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cadhla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cadhla/gifts).



> Beta (and titling) assistance kindly provided by Isis and Eirenne.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it. Actually setting it to music was beyond my talents (you are welcome to, if the muse strikes you), but I hope it captures the feel of the album as well as only words can.

ONE-WAY TRIP

MINTHE:  
That Hades, down under the ground  
They say he's wealthy, say he's kind  
They say he likes little birds  
And pretty things to light his days  
Down under the ground  
Where there ain’t no sky

FATES:  
He likes the things that he owns  
King of silver, king of gold  
And everything’s a thing that he owns  
Down in Hadestown, where there ain't no sky

MINTHE:  
I’m light on my feet  
Nice to look at, if I may say  
Trained in all the common arts  
I’d like to ornament his halls  
Like to belong to the man who owns it all  
Wouldn’t you like to belong  
To the man who owns it all

FATES:  
Golden cages still glitter  
Golden shackles still shine  
Even razor wire is silver  
In his endless airless night

MINTHE:  
Wouldn’t you like to get out of the grime  
Wouldn’t you like to go down  
They say the streets are paved with gold

FATES:  
Don’t you know it’s cold?

MINTHE:  
Down in Hadestown  
They say the only tickets are a one-way trip  
They say you can’t return  
They say a lot of things these days  
And everybody’s dreaming of ambrosia wine  
And feather beds down in Hadestown  
They say he’s got a profile like it was sculpted  
They say he’s like a man carved from marble  
They say his heart is stone and his eyes are coal  
But they say that he’s kind to the things that he owns  
They say he feeds little birds well  
Down in Hadestown

FATES:  
Marble is hard and granite is cold  
A diamond’s no warmer than ice  
Rubies may grow on trees underground  
But you can’t eat jewels, little bird  
Be certain of what you ask for

MINTHE:  
I’m going to buy a ticket down  
Turn in these dance hall sequins  
For a paper slip, a long trip  
I’m going to go down to Hadestown  
I’m going to see the king in Hadestown  
See if he likes it when I sing

FATES:  
The train don’t come back  
No one sees the other side of that track  
There’s no round trip ticket  
When you go down to Hadestown  
It’s a one-way trip

  
THE DIE IS THROWN

FATES:  
Be careful what you wish for  
Dreams do come true  
Be careful what you wish for  
See what they’ll make of you

HADES:  
Say, little bird  
Your feathers look a little worn  
You look like times have been a little hard  
Look like pickings have been a little slim  
Why don’t you sing for me, little bird  
Come and eat from my hand

MINTHE:  
I’ll sing you a song  
Dance you a dance, yeah  
Up and down these shining halls  
I’ll do anything you like  
For the king who understands  
I see how it glitters  
I see your marble brow  
I’ll be your bird in the hand

HADES:  
Come and perch on my knee  
Come and sing for me  
Silver-tongued lyrebird  
Come and eat from my hand  
I have an empire to run  
A throne to warm  
Reins to hold  
I think I’d like something soft  
Something sweet  
A treat to enjoy in my downtime  
I appreciate pretty things  
Canaries yellow in the mine  
Come and ornament my halls  
Little lyrebird, come and sing

FATES:  
The cage is silver  
The shackles are gold  
The cards are dealt  
And the die is rolled  
The chips are down, yeah  
The game is begun  
When it all comes tumbling down  
You may wish you’d run

  
END OF THE LINE

MINTHE:  
King of silver  
King of gold  
King of all that shines  
Lord of the below-

PERSEPHONE:  
No.  
I put up with your laws, husband  
I live in your grey world without a sky  
No sun, no breeze, no stars  
Six months of my every year  
I live at your side  
But there is a line, Hades

HADES:  
Wife-

PERSEPHONE:  
No.  
No little birds on your marble knee  
No sylphs in your fountains  
No dance-hall girls at your tables  
There is a line and you have crossed it  
A queen you wanted, and a queen you’ve got  
Six months of every year and for eternity  
Iron and gold crown pomegranate halls  
I am your queen in Hadestown  
If I am yours, then you are mine  
And no one touches the things that I own

FATES:  
The die is thrown  
The chips are down  
It all comes tumbling down, yeah  
It all falls down  
At the end of the line

MINTHE:  
Lady, please-

PERSEPHONE:  
No.  
Nymph, sylph, lyrebird  
Pretty little thing, aren’t you  
Silken slips and cleaned up nice  
I think you’ll scent my gardens  
Grow low and never see the skies  
You’ll live forever in my gardens  
And you’ll never touch my husband’s side  
You’ll never touch what is mine  
I may not have the moon  
But what I have, I hold  
And the king in Hadestown is mine

FATES:  
They say it’s a one-way trip  
When the die is thrown  
And it all falls down  
It’s the end of the line  
It’s the end of the line  
It’s the end of the line


End file.
